Have you ever wondered what a Dio/Black Sabbath Christmas song would sound like? The wait is over. Compilation CD veterans Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen have put together a holiday CD for metalheads that gives us a new excuse to pump our fists this holiday season – and we can actually sing along too. Let us rejoice and be glad!
We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year was released this October (2008) on Armoury Records. Like all compilations of cover songs, this 12-song collection has some real standouts.
The best are those in which the artists succeed masterfully in making the cover songs their own. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is Dio/Sabbath through and through. Who besides Dio could sing “tidings of comfort and joy” so eerily, with Tony Iommi’s guitar (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) sending chills up your back? Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot) and Simon Wright (AC/DC, Dio) lay down bass and drums that stay true to the song but have an unmistakably metal bent.
Santa Claws (yes, with a W) comes to life as only Alice Cooper could create him (“He knows where you live… He knows that your window’s open…”) on “Santa Claws is Coming to Town.” Guitarist John 5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), bassist Billy Sheehan (Talas, DLR, Mr. Big), and metal powerhouse Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell) help Cooper make Santa Claws someone to look nervously over your shoulder for.
As traditional holiday songs go, “Rockin’ Around the Xmas Tree” is top notch with vocals by Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), guitars by brothers Bruce Kulick (KISS) and Bob Kulick (Murderer’s Row, Meat Loaf, W.A.S.P.), and the rhythm section once again of Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright.
Queensryche fans will love hearing Geoff Tate sing “Silver Bells,” with some great guitar solos by Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot) and solid bass and drums by James Lomenzo (Megadeth, Black Label Society) and Ray Luzier (Korn, DLR) respectively.
The CD is full of heavyweights. Many of the multitalented musicians can easily play several instruments and sing (Tommy Shaw and Dave Grohl, to name only two). So it would have been cool if, in addition to listing the musicians’ names for each track, the CD insert also detailed who played/sang what parts on each track. There are too many musicians and songs to list them all here, but trust me that they include many varieties of metal and hard rock. Classic metal is represented by the likes of Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Steve Morse (Deep Purple), and Tim “Ripper” Owens (Judas Priest, Iced Earth). Glam slides in with Stephen Pearcy (RATT) and Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns, GNR). As for rock, how about Chris Wyse (The Cult), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), and Steve Lukather (Toto). Like southern rock too? Check out ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons on “Run Rudolph Run.” Oni Logan (Lynch Mob, Armored Saint) celebrates his return from extended time off with “Deck the Halls.”
If you like growly death metal vocals, don’t miss Testament singer Chuck Billy on “Silent Night.” The rest of the lineup for “Silent Night” is killer too: The song’s guitars are nothing short of excellent thanks to Scott Ian (Anthrax, Stormtroopers of Death) and Jon Donais (Shadows Fall), along with The Cult’s bassist Chris Wyse and drummer John Tempesta (who’s also kept time for Exodus, White Zombie, and Testament).
This CD would make an amazing concert – how about “We Are the Metal World”? – except for the logistical impossibility of getting all of these well-known musicians in one place at the same time.
If you’re into metal and have a smidgen of holiday spirit, you’ll dig this CD. It’s well worth tossing into your Amazon.com shopping cart at the bargain price of $9.99. With today’s troubled economic times adding even more stress as 2008 wraps up, there’s no better way to release a bit of that tension than some holiday headbanging!
